Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.7.6 (RNA polymerase)
 34,946 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The RNase H domain of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reverse transcriptase was released from recombinant DHFR-RNase H fusion protein by the action of HIV-1 protease and crystallized as large trigonal prisms that diffract x-rays to at least 2.4-A resolution. The protease cleavage occurred 18 residues away from the Phe440-Tyr441 site reported to be processed during maturation of the reverse transcriptase heterodimer. Mutagenesis of the protease-sensitive region (residues 430-440), which is part of the crystallized domain, indicates that any alteration of the wild-type sequence results in increased proteolysis of the p66 subunit. A model of asymmetric processing in HIV-1 reserve transcriptase which involves partial unfolding of the RNase H domain is proposed based on these results and the recently reported three-dimensional structure of this domain.
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PMID:Proteolytic release and crystallization of the RNase H domain of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 reverse transcriptase. 171 88

We have identified a component of the eukaryotic RNA polymerase II transcriptional machinery that is more heat-labile than TFIID. DHFR transcriptional activity was severely reduced in 40 degrees C heat-treated extracts in which TFIID was fully active. This heat-labile activity was required for the transcription of both TATA box and non-TATA box promoters that are activated by the transcription factor Sp1. Gel mobility shifts indicated that Sp1 DNA binding activity was heat-labile, and the addition of purified Sp1 to 40 degrees C heat-treated extracts fully restored DHFR transcriptional activity. In contrast, the addition of Sp1 to 47 degrees C heat-treated extract did not result in transcriptional activity from the DHFR promoter. We conclude that reduction in Sp1 DNA binding activity is partially responsible for the heat-sensitive loss of DHFR transcriptional activity, but that a second essential activity is also inactivated by 47 degrees C heat-treatment. The discovery of this heat-labile component of Sp1 activation has two important implications in the analysis of transcriptional regulation. First, it demonstrates that heat-treated extracts are not appropriate for examination of the involvement of TFIID in the transcription of Sp1-activated promoters. Second, it explains the previously reported low-temperature optima for transcription from the DHFR promoter and demonstrates that transcriptional studies of Sp1-activated promoters should not be performed at 30 degrees C.
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PMID:Sp1 activation of RNA polymerase II transcription complexes involves a heat-labile DNA-binding component. 182 Feb 11

The complete nucleotide sequence of a 1957 bp DNA fragment containing the dihydrofolate reductase gene (DFR1) of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is presented. Within this region a single open reading frame of 633 base pairs was found which is capable of encoding a 211 amino acid residue protein with a calculated Mr of 24,233. The amino acid sequence derived from the yeast DFR1 gene shows limited homology with sequences from both eukaryotic and non-eukaryotic DHFR enzymes. Northern blot hybridization reveals that the mRNA from this gene is a 900 base polyadenylated transcript. Yeast strains containing the cloned DFR1 gene on multicopy number shuttle vector plasmids show dramatically enhanced methotrexate resistance. Consensus DNA sequences responsible for RNA polymerase II interaction and general amino acid control in S. cerevisiae are located within the 5'-noncoding region with respect to the open reading frame. The DNA fragment containing these sequences has been shown to be necessary for DFR1 gene expression in both S. cerevisiae and E. coli.
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PMID:Molecular characterization of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae dihydrofolate reductase gene (DFR1). 282 21

The processed pseudogenes reported to date fall into three categories: those that are a complete copy of the mRNA transcribed from the functional gene, those that are only a partial copy of the corresponding mRNA, and those that contain sequences in addition to those expected to be present in the mRNA. The general structural characteristics of these processed pseudogenes include the complete lack of intervening sequences found in the functional counterparts, a poly A tract at the 3' end, and direct repeats flanking the pseudogene sequence. In all the cases studied, these pseudogenes have been found to be on a different chromosome from their functional counterpart. These characteristics have led investigators to suggest that an RNA intermediate, in many cases the mRNA of the functional gene, is involved in the production of these pseudogenes. The mechanism by which processed pseudogenes arose involves the integration of the mRNA, or its cDNA copy, into a staggered chromosome break, followed by DNA synthesis and repair. I suggest that all the transcripts that gave rise to these pseudogenes were actually produced in the germ line cell. The transcripts that gave rise to the processed pseudogenes that are direct copies of the corresponding mRNA resulted from RNA polymerase II transcription of the functional counterpart. Pseudogenes that are not a direct copy of the corresponding mRNA may have resulted from RNA polymerase III transcription. If this is indeed the case, one need not postulate the involvement of retroviruses to explain the presence of processed pseudogenes corresponding to genes that are not expressed in the germ line. Following the integration event, processed pseudogenes can no longer be transcribed to produce the functional mRNA from which they arose. This inability to be transcribed by RNA polymerase II is not surprising considering that processed pseudogenes seem to be randomly integrated into the genome. Therefore, integration of a processed pseudogene such that RNA polymerase II transcriptional promoters are correctly positioned 5' to the resultant pseudogene is an unlikely event. The presence of processed pseudogenes seems peculiar to mammals. In fact, evolutionary studies indicate that processed pseudogenes are of relatively recent origin. In fact, at least one processed pseudogene, the human DHFR psi 1, has been formed so recently that it is polymorphic.
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PMID:Processed pseudogenes: characteristics and evolution. 390 43

cDNAs encoding the bifunctional dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase from Glycine max were isolated and sequenced. The 1794 base full length cDNA contains a single open reading frame of 1593 bases. The predicted size of the encoded protein is 530 amino acids with a molecular weight of 59,707. The protein has two domains: a 226 residue DHFR domain in the N-terminus, which is over 30% identical to human DHFR or the DHFR domain of protozoal DHFR-TS, and a 304 residue thymidylate synthase (TS) domain, which is over 60% identical to eukaryotic TS enzymes. The whole protein sequence is greater than 75% identical to DHFR-TS sequences from two other plants, Daucus carota and Arabidopsis thaliana. The sequence of two tryptic peptides obtained from DHFR preparations matched the predicted amino acid sequence, one peptide lying in the DHFR domain and the other in the TS domain. These results indicate that DHFR and TS exist in a bifunctional polypeptide in Glycine max. The coding region of the cDNA was inserted downstream of the T7 promoter and translation initiation signals in the vector pET-3a. This construct (pDR-TS) was transformed into Escherichia coli BL21 (DE) [plysS] which produces T7 RNA polymerase upon induction by isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG). The expression of the bifunctional enzyme was confirmed by detection of both DHFR and TS activities. The purified enzyme has a subunit molecular mass of 60 kDa. This is the first report of expression of a plant DHFR-TS cDNA.
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PMID:Cloning, nucleotide sequence and expression of the bifunctional dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase from Glycine max. 774 62

Intergenic regions of polycistronic pre-mRNAs of trypanosomatid protozoans are the sites of two processing reactions: polyadenylation of the upstream gene and trans-splicing of the capped miniexon to the downstream gene. Their close proximity and the lack of consensus motifs at poly(A) sites led us to test whether poly(A) site selection is governed by the location of the downstream splice acceptor in the DHFR-TS locus of Leishmania major. Whenever the position of the downstream splice site was altered, the poly(A) site was shifted 400-500 nucleotides upstream of the new splice site. In contrast, when the wild-type poly(A) site was eliminated, the downstream splice site was unaffected, and polyadenylation was maintained 200-500 nucleotides upstream of the splice site. In a second set of experiments, T7 RNA polymerase expressed in Leishmania was used to direct the synthesis of artificial pre-RNAs in vivo whose expression was found to require the presence of a downstream splice acceptor. We conclude that poly(A) site selection in Leishmania is specified by the position of the downstream splice acceptor and propose a scanning model for poly(A) site selection after splice site recognition.
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PMID:Coupling of poly(A) site selection and trans-splicing in Leishmania. 850 37

The human CSB gene, mutated in Cockayne's syndrome group B (partially defective in both repair and transcription) was previously cloned by virtue of its ability to correct the moderate UV sensitivity of the CHO mutant UV61. To determine whether the defect in UV61 is the hamster equivalent of Cockayne's syndrome, the RNA polymerase II transcription and DNA repair characteristics of a repair-proficient CHO cell line (AA8), UV61 and a CSB transfectant of UV61 were compared. In each cell line, formation and removal of UV-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) were measured in the individual strands of the actively transcribed DHFR gene and in a transcriptionally inactive region downstream of DHFR. AA8 cells efficiently remove CPDs from the transcribed strand, but not from either the non-transcribed strand or the inactive region. There was no detectable repair of CPDs in any region of the genome in UV61. Transfection of the human CSB gene into UV61 restores the normal repair pattern (CPD removal in only the transcribed strand), demonstrating that the DNA repair defect in UV61 is homologous to that in Cockayne's syndrome (complementation group B) cells. However, we observe no significant deficiency in RNA polymerase II-mediated transcription in UV61, suggesting that the CSB protein has independent roles in DNA repair and RNA transcription pathways.
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PMID:The human CSB (ERCC6) gene corrects the transcription-coupled repair defect in the CHO cell mutant UV61. 881 Oct 84

It is thought that recovery of RNA synthesis following UV-irradiation is closely related to the removal of UV-induced lesions from the transcribed strand of active genes. To test this hypothesis, nascent RNA synthesis from three different locations within the DHFR gene in CHO cells was assessed following exposure to UV light (254 nm). Using both in vivo RNA labeling as well as the nuclear run-on technique, it was found that RNA synthesis from the middle and the 3'-end of the gene was inhibited within 20 min by approximately 30 and 70%, respectively, while RNA synthesis from the 5'-end of the DHFR gene was enhanced. RNA synthesis from the middle portion of the gene fully recovered within 30-45 min of post-UV incubation, while recovery was slower from the 3'-end of the gene. Compared with previously published data for the kinetics of removal of UV-induced DNA lesions from the 5'-half of the DHFR gene in these cells, it is concluded that RNA synthesis resumed significantly faster in this region than could be accounted for by the removal of photolesions from the transcribed strand. Thus, although RNA synthesis was initially inhibited by UV-induced photolesions, the results suggest that RNA polymerase II was able to bypass these lesions prior to their removal.
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PMID:Recovery of RNA synthesis from the DHFR gene following UV-irradiation precedes the removal of photolesions from the transcribed strand. 1019 May 52

Non-coding RNAs up to 1,000 nucleotides in length are widespread in eukaryotes and fulfil various regulatory functions, in particular during chromatin remodeling and cell proliferation. These RNAs are not translated into proteins: thus, they are non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). The present review describes the eukaryotic ncRNAs involved in transcription regulation, first and foremost, targeting RNA polymerase II (RNAP II) and/or its major proteinaceous transcription factors. The current state of knowledge concerning the regulatory functions of SRA and TAR RNA, 7SK and U1 snRNA, GAS5 and DHFR RNA is summarized herein. Special attention is given to murine B1 and B2 RNAs and human Alu RNA, due to their ability to bind the active site of RNAP II. Discovery of bacterial analogs of the eukaryotic small ncRNAs involved in transcription regulation, such as 6S RNAs, suggests that they possess a common evolutionary origin.
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PMID:Non-Coding RNAs As Transcriptional Regulators In Eukaryotes. 2934 Feb 13